What Do You Think: Should Calamari Be R.I.'s State Appetizer?
A bill introduced Thursday in the General Assembly would do just that.
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Everyone – everyone – loves fried calamari. And not just in Rhode Island. Travel beyond our borders and you'll find fried calamari on the menu in Los Angeles, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C., to name a few of the places that have co-opted our batter-fried squid rings and tentacles served with red sauce and pickled hot peppers.
Rep. Joseph M. McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston), in recognition of that fact, thinks calamari should be designated Rhode Island's official state appetizer. Bill 2013-H 5654, which McNamara (no relation to this author) introduced Thursday, would do just that.
“Some much of what we hear or read about Rhode Island is negative,” said McNamara in a statement. “We need to start promoting the good and wonderful things about our state. And while squid may make some people squeamish, we should be boasting about the fact that Rhode Island is the east coast capital of squid, and that our style of preparing it is being used by chef across the country. Even Guy Fieri has a recipe for it.”
There are some who would disagree, however, including RI Future's Bob Plain, who opined on Twitter Thursday that the clam cake would be a better official state appetizer. We are the quahog state, but it's hard to deny calamari's popularity.
The calamari bill has been referred to the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare. It is co-sponsored by Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, Narragansett, South Kingstown), Rep. Donna M. Walsh (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly), Rep. Deborah Ruggiero (D-Dist. 74, Jamestown, Middletown) and Rep. Gregory J. Costantino (D-Dist. 44, Lincoln, Johnston, Smithfield).
What do you think? Should calamari be our official state appetizer? Should our legislators be spending their time on bills naming an official state appetizer? Weigh in below in the comments section.
Linda Farina
11:42 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
I am so glad that are elected officials are sinking their teeth into the state's long standing problems...I never thought that Fried Calamari would take precedent over so many other pressing issues ...but I am reminded of the words of Chief Thomas "I never forget that I live in Rhode Island" (something to that effect)...in other words...he as well as I, is never surprised at the politics people play...Now that we solved the calamari problem I would hope our reps on the hill would get down to the business of solving some real problems...What do you think?...
jim halsband
12:28 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
What do I think? It is unprintable!! Laughable that this feckless group of fools on the hill spent a second on such inane lunacy when RI wallows at the very bottom, yes, 50th place ranking, as the worst business climate in the US! Their "Let them eat cake" mentality has devolved precipitously into "Let'em eat fried calamari!" But, then again, fried calamari is delicious!
Gene Dumas
1:09 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Kind of reminds me of Hartleys quintet playing soothing music as the Titanic sinks!
Lynn Krim
10:49 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
....or Nero fiddling while Rome burned......
James R
10:52 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
I cannot agree more with Mr. Halsband. It is at best incompetent to be discussing fried squid at a time when the state's economy is in shambles, had highest unemployment in Decemeber nationwide, has almost no EDC board members left, soaring property taxes (including towns that can't get beyond their own kingdoms to merge tax jurisdictions) a public that has no confidence and is disgusted- and a culture of political corruption. The legislator that sponsored this should be removed from office. Rhode Island taxpayers are fed up and tired of this repeated tone-deaf foolishness exhibited by our political "leaders".
jim halsband
11:15 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
I have been trying to bring new technology to RI for a couple of years, innovative machinery that takes waste plastics and turns it back into oil, which can be used directly as home heating oil, the benefits, as one can imagine, are extraordinary from job creation to positive environmental impact. As the handwringing and blame game continues ad nauseum over the Curt Schilling Studio 38 fiasco, it generated a stark comparison regarding this recycling proposal. $75 million invested in plastic to oil recovery based upon $3/gallon pricing not rising over the next 20 years would purchase 7 large systems to recycle 300 tons of waste plastics into in excess of 70,000 gallons of heating oil per day with an aggregate value of $1.5 billion, and hundreds of jobs. I presented that to many of our elected officials, who would rather discuss fried calamari, apparently! I am trying! After the initial investment for the machinery, oil pours out from plastic diverted from the landfills for about 30 cents per gallon in energy costs! Maybe I am just too idealistic but that is the reality behind this most necessary and real opportunity to take an aggressive and giant forward step to create a renewed economic base. I proposed to our town council to take a small step and invest $200,000 to inaugurate the movement and show the US that we have the guts to deal with real economic setbacks. I'm still waiting for a call back.